Shane's Kid
by SLPikachu
Summary: A tale of a what if Shane had his own kid to look after.
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note: Though I didn't necessary agree with everything Shane said/did, I still liked his character and felt bad for him, and did think he was right about some things. So I decided to give him his own family even if it's only a kid. If I think of more, I'll expand on this. Please let me know if Shane's in character. I get worried whenever I write something about someone and it doesn't sound like them as I try to keep most of their character in tact as they are in their show._**

* * *

Shane Walsh came home, late, one night after an exhausting day on the job. To make matters worse, he had to come home to find every light turned on even though no one was in the same room. After a heated debate that went nowhere, he headed upstairs to check on the only person in that place that didn't fustrate the hell out of him, and even if she did, it wasn't like with her mother.

He knocked first before hearing, "Come in." Shane opened the door, catching his ten-year-old still up and on her computer.

"What you still doing up, Short Stuff?" He had always called the kid by that nickname ever since they realized how short she was.

Riley was sitting crossed-legged in her computer chair. "Since it's Friday, I wanted to stay up to wait for you."

Shane made his way across the room, over to his kid, kissing the side of her head. "Better not be searching for inappropriate pictures," flashing a grin to show he was messing with her, knowing full well Riley wouldn't, especially when he had reminded her to watch what she does online or he'd be taking the computer out to the dumpster on the side of the house.

Riley tilted her head, back, flashing the same grin, right back at him. She reached up and kissed the end of his nose.

"Oh, and by the way," Shane put all his weight on one hand that he held on the desk and pointed over at the lower, right corner of the screen, "it's Thursday. Not Friday. You got school, tomorrow, Sweetpea," he told her, using another one of the nicknames whenever Shane had to point out a goof the kid occasionally had. It wasn't like she meant to forget or play dumb on purpose. Riley was always trying to do her best to focus. Learning and focusing came as a challenge, and sometimes made her seem slow. Shane never treated his daughter as if she were. He just told her, it just meant she had to work harder than anybody else.

Her mother treated the kid as if she was retarded, even though she wasn't. Riley was bright in her own way, but her mother never saw it that way. Or refused to.

"Come on. Shut the thing down," Shane told her, standing up, straight.

"Yes, sir." Riley turned back to the computer, closing the internet game she was playing, eventually shutting the whole computer down. Riley then slid off her chair and made her way over to her bed, getting under the covers. "Hey, Dad."

He had followed behind to make sure Riley got tucked in.

"Are you sure I'm not dumb?" By the look she gave her father, he always knew how serious the kid was whenever Riley felt he had to recomfirm it, and Shane always knew why the kid felt she had to ask.

Shane sat on her bed. "Your mom get to you again, didn't she?"

Riley's gaze fell on her _Super Mario Bros_ comforter. "Yes." Actually, she didn't even need to respond. Her dad already figured it out.

He fumed, shaking his head, elsewhere. Turning back to his daughter, Shane leaned in, closer. "Listen. You are not dumb. So what if those teachers say you got some kind of learning disability, or whatever they call it. Look at me, Riley Jean." She lifted her gaze to look into her father's eyes. "Trust me, kiddo. You got more sense than your mom, that's for sure. At least I don't gotta tell you several times to turn off every light in the house when you're done."

"I heard that," she admitted.

"Sorry you had to." He reached up to kiss her forehead. Shane ruffled her hair right before standing to his feet. Riley leaned back to grab Yoshi and lied down on her pillow.

Shane leaned over her to add one last thing. "Hey. What do ya say you and I go camping this weekend? Just the two of us?"

Riley nodded, trying to mask her excitement, smiling behind the green dinosaur's big head. "But don't you work on the weekend?"

"Not this weekend," he shook his head. "You know I save my vacation days for special occasions like our camping trips."

"Can Rick and Carl come?"

"We'll see, kiddo." Standing up, Shane headed for the door, placing a hand on the light switch. "Good night, Sweetpea."

"Good night, Dad."

The next morning, Shane was up the earliest and made sure his girls were fed before leaving for work, already in his uniform. Riley came downstairs, first, leaping onto one of the kitchen stools at the counter just as he was pouring the scambled eggs onto her plate.

"You get yer homework done." Should have asked that the night before.

"I went to Resourse yesterday so I didn't get any." Resourse was a smaller class Riley had to go to during math and language arts, twice a week. The teacher there took things slow with each student until they were able to grasp the material.

"What? So there wasn't any homework for history or science, or any other subjects?"

"I had to read a chapter for history, but I read it on the bus ride, home," she said. "Mrs. Collins says we're gonna go over it as a class, today."

"Best make sure you pay attention. Alright?" he nodded at her.

"I will." Shane pulled his hat off to reach over and place it on her head, telling Riley to eat and that he would take her to school so she wouldn't have to take the bus that morning since he had a little time.

Angela walked into the kitchen, grabbing a kiss from Shane just as he handed her, her plate. She set it on the counter, to pour herself a cup of coffee, taking both to sit beside their daughter. "Morning, dummy," Angela harmlessly teased the kid before kissing the side of her head.

Even though it was a tease, Shane still hated Angela would call Riley, dummy. "Quit calling her that," he told her, trying to mask some anger.

"Relax. I was just teasing her." She then started on her breakfast.

"Don't care. I don't want you putting those thoughts into our daughter's head, making her think she is when she ain't."

The woman wouldn't ease off. "Not according to those teachers," she said. Another argument began which Shane had to keep things to a mimimal for Riley's sake. It ended with him telling her, they were leaving and for Riley to go grab her backpack. On the call ride to the school, he made sure to remind Riley not to mind a word her mother said.

When he pulled up to the school, stopping in the student drop-off/pick-up area, Riley returned his hat to him, reaching up to put it on his head for him, before they exchanged kisses.

The camping trip ended up getting cancelled when Rick was shot on the job and sent to the hospital. While he let Lori break the news to her son, Shane took Riley to the side and told her, kneeled at her level, pulling her in when she teared up. The kids grew up practically like cousins and Riley always saw Rick and Lori like an uncle and aunt, though she liked Rick more. Even though Riley was a couple years older than Carl, they were both about the same height. Despite the age difference, they were still good friends and hung out together in school since Riley had no friends from her own grade. It helped she was practically a tomboy and liked doing things boys usually did.

Instead of camping, Shane and Riley spent the weekend, making sure Lori and Carl were alright. Shortly after Rick's accident, things started to go to hell with a virus breaking out and people getting sick and coming back from the dead once it took, and tried eating loved ones.

Riley had been at the Grimes' house when everyone was told to evacuate. He and Riley had visited Rick in the hospital, numerous times, hoping he would wake up. When the outbreak happened, Shane tried one last time, but had no other choice but to leave him.

On the way to the Grimes' household, Shane stopped by his to pack a few belongings and weapons from his own personal arsenal. Angela was nowhere to be seen and most of her own belongings were gone. He half hoped she had gone to the Grimes' to meet him there. When Shane pulled up and hurried up to the door where Lori was also packing, he saw only Riley was there, terrified.

All four piled into his jeep and headed into the city, to the refugee center.

"Dad," Riley spoke up from behind his seat. "Where's Mom?"

"I honestly don't know, Sweetpea. I thought she was with you." Truthfully, Shane really could give a rat's ass where the woman was right about now. Things had been rocky for a while that it seemed like it was heading towards a divorce. But talking to their ten-year-old, Shane wasn't about to admit that to the kid and held up a front for Riley's sake.

The heavy traffic was a stand-still with no cars moving. Many had gotten out of their vehicles to see what to do.

Riley clung onto Yoshi in her arms as her dad affirmed everything would be alright, that he would make sure she, Carl, and Lori were safe. When they eventually found a good group of people to stick with, they made a camp and watched out for each other, especially the women and children.

Unlike the other parents, Shane wanted to make sure his kid was fully protected to the point he gave her a knife of her own.

"I want you to take this and only use it if you have to," he told her, holding the handle pointed towards her. "I better not see you messing around with this. It ain't a toy, got that?"

Riley nodded, knowing well if she did something she knew wasn't suppose to, the kid would be sitting uncomfortably for a while. It was rare when he had to and usually the threat alone was good enough to remind Riley to follow orders. Plus, Shane knew when to be lenient whenever she had one of her goofs, and when Riley needed a firm reminder.

Once Carl saw the knife hanging from her belt, even though they were friends, he wasn't happy about it. "Why does she have a weapon for? She's a girl," he pointed out.

"Carl, knock it off," Shane told him, firmly. "You know if it were up to me, you'd have one, too, but it ain't. Your mom said no." He then gave a stern lecture that just cause Riley was a girl, didn't mean she couldn't know how to protect herself in case no one else was around and Riley couldn't get away to find someone. Shane had already started teaching Riley about guns, how to load and unload them, and about being smart around them.

"Maybe I shouldn't be around them, Dad. I ain't smart," she pointed out.

"Now, you cut that out," he told her, firm but gently. "If I didn't think you were smart enough to learn your way around a gun, I wouldn't. You can do this, Rye. And I don't want to hear you say any different. You understand me?"

Riley nodded up at him. If they could spare the ammo, he would take her out for shooting practice, though Shane did show Riley how to aim and hold one, reminding her to focus.

"I love ya, kiddo," he told her, placing a loving hand on the back of her head. Nudging it towards him, Shane gave her head a kiss on top. "That's why I push you. Just cause something takes you a bit longer than others, don't mean you can't do it, too. You are smart. Don't ever forget that."

Riley was leaning against him. She looked up at her dad, turning her frown upside down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Shane's Kid**

 **Chapter 2**

Riley focused as hard as she could as she unloaded the handgun in her hands. Things were quiet as she worked, her dad made sure of it. In fact, they had made sure to choose a time of the day where everyone was off busy doing their chores so Riley wouldn't have any distractions. Having no distractions helped her concentrate more easily. Shane even held off on the praise until after she was done. Even saying one word would make Riley lose focus and would have to start all over again.

Another good reason for waiting until everyone was doing their chores was because any time Shane did any training with his kid, he seemed to always receive looks from most.

"Atta girl," he praised once Riley was finished. "Remember how to clean inside?" She took a moment to remember before nodding. "Show me then."

Carl wandered over at that point. "Can I try?" he asked, interrupting Riley's concentration once she started using the tool to clean inside the pieces.

"Hey, bud," Shane looked up at the boy. "Remember what we talked about?"

"But..."

He gave him a firm look before Carl finally walked away, with a bummed look on his face. He assured the boy they'd do something later before returning his attention to his own kid.

Since Riley was on an easy step, thankfully, it didn't take long for her to refocus on the task. Once that was done, she put the gun back together without any help.

"Alright," he praised, proudly. "You got it."

Riley smiled, proud of herself as well. "I did it."

"Heck ya, you did. Put 'er there." He held a hand up for Riley to high five. "Awesome, kiddo." They heard footsteps on the gravel behind them, making both father and daughter twist around. Lori had come over.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

Shane smirked over at the woman. "Nope." He turned to smile over at Riley, "we just finished. Didn't we, Rye?"

Riley nodded at him, returning it. "Yep." She turned back to Lori, holding the gun up, using both hands just as her dad taught her to hold it, the safe way. "I took it apart, cleaned it, and put it back together all on my own."

Lori seemed to force a smile for her. "That's very nice, Riley." Glancing at the ground, she looked up to suggest Riley go play with the other kids.

Looking for confirmation for dismissal from her dad, first which he gave the okay, Riley passed the gun to him before hurrying off to go find the other kids. Shane stood up, placing the gun behind him.

When Riley was gone, Lori asked, "Why do you insist on teaching that girl?"

"I'm just preparing her so she knows how to protect herself," he told her, calmly.

"She's a child, Shane."

Shane shrugged. "So? Don't mean she can't know."

"What would her mother think if she were here?"

"I really don't think she'll care, to be honest."

"And how do you know that?"

He looked around, his hands on his sides. "For one, do you see her here?" Lori remained silent that time. "Angela booked it, first chance she got. Didn't even stop to make sure her daughter was safe. Just took off. Didn't even try to contact me, tell me where she was going. I don't even know if she's alive or not. But even when she was around, Angela showed no care for whatever Riley did. Bullied her more than the other kids in her class did. I don't think Angela would care one bit what I taught her."

"She's ten, Shane," she continued to press the matter, further.

"Look, I respect your decisions with Carl. Please, just respect mine. She's my daughter, my responsibility."

"There should be no reason to teach her any of this. Nothing has come up here. We have plenty of hands helping to protect this place," she shrugged, "why put this on her?"

Shane glanced away, running a hand along his hair. "What if the kids are playing and a walker shows up, and neither of them can get away to come get us. Or we can't get to them on time? If at least Riley knew what to do, they'd stand a better chance of not getting bit or worse," he explained. "Besides, you know how spacey the kid gets. I'd feel better if my little girl knew how to protect herself if one of her goofs becomes dangerous and I can't get there in time to save her."

Meanwhile, Riley had gone in search of Carl and the other kids. Carl and Sophia were building houses out of stones when she walked up.

"Hey," she waved, coming over.

"Hi, Riley," Sophia returned the greeting, cheerfully while Carl kept building. "Wanna help us build houses?"

"Sure." Riley walked around the older girl, kneeling in the dirt to join them. Sophia pushed a pile of rocks over to her which Riley thanked her and started stacking them on top of each other. It was then she noticed Carl was eyeing the knife at her side.

After a few minutes, he finally sat back on his heels. "Can I see your knife?"

"My dad says I can't take it out unless there's a walker nearby, attacking us," Riley told him.

"Oh, come on. He'll never find out. Just let me see it for a second." Carl started pleading to let Riley let him see her knife.

"If Dad were to walk over while you had it, I'll be in big trouble. I don't just get grounded like you only do," she stated but Carl wouldn't give up. He kept asking even when Sophia tried telling him to stop, too. Riley looked around the part of camp where they were playing. Her dad was still talking to his mom. It seemed like it wouldn't end for a while so finally, she decided to give in. "Fine, but only for litually a second, Carl. I mean it."

"Awesome." The boy was super excited Riley had finally said yes.

"But Riley, your dad told you not to," Sophia reminded her.

"I know." She couldn't help keep glancing over at where her dad was still talking to Lori. Remaining cautious and subtle, Riley pulled her knife out and passed it over to Carl, who took it.

Carl took it by the handle and stared the knife. "Cool," he said as if it were the greatest thing in the word.

Keeping an eye on her dad, Riley told him, "Okay, you saw it. Now give it back." When she didn't feel the weight of the knife's handle in her hand, Riley looked back at Carl, who was still looking at it. "I could kill plenty of those things with this."

"I said, give it back, Carl. You're gonna get me in trouble." When she tried to take it, he ducked it away from her reach. "Hold on. Give me one more second."

"Carl," she told him, now fustrated and tried to reach for it again. She was going to be in so much trouble. "It's not a toy. You can hurt yourself or someone else, Carl."

"I'm not stupid, Riley," he told her, defensively, glaring over at her.

"I didn't mean it like that. Just please, give it back before my dad finds out."

"Finds out about what?" The kids jumped at the sudden sound of Shane's voice. Riley hadn't realized he and Lori had finished their conversation and had come this way. She froze as she stared up at him, swallowing when Riley saw his eyes move towards Carl and the knife in his hands. Shane turned back to his daughter. "You want to tell me why Carl has your knife, Riley Jean?" The tone in his voice made her swallow again, but this time, it was a little bit difficult considering the lump was bigger this time.

"Carl kept asking to see it, even though I told him, he couldn't. Then I finally gave in and said he could see it for a second, but then he wouldn't give it, back."

Sophia added some aid to help her friend. "It's true. Carl wouldn't let it go."

His gaze remained on his own kid even when Sophia spoke. "Then why didn't you come tell me or his mom?" he asked of Riley, disappointment spread all over his face.

"Um..." Riley hesitated. That probably would have been the best idea, but she didn't think to do that at the time. Seeing him finally move, Riley flinched away, backwards. It was to reach out towards Carl, instead, wanting the knife. He immediately held it up to him.

"Let's go, Riley Jean," Shane motioned towards their tent with his head.

Standing to her feet, Riley waved to her friends before following after her dad. It felt like she was on death row, walking to her death. Behind her, Riley could hear Carl being scolded by his mom. Part of her hated that he only got away with being grounded and she got more than that. She kept her gaze on the ground, watching her feet as Riley walked behind her dad. She stole a look, here and there, up at his back, but quickly dropped it again.

Once they were away from the rest of the camp, Shane turned on his heel to face his daughter. "What did I say when I gave this to you, Riley Jean?" His tone was now soft, but still firm.

Tears were already clouding her vision as she stared at nothing but the ground.

Shane lowered his head a little to look directly at her. "Hm? What did I say?" He saw her wipe at her eyes with the side of her hand. Moving closer, Shane kneeled to her level and held the knife up to her. "I said this wasn't a toy."

She sniffed in. "I know."

"Then why did you give it to Carl, Riley Jean?"

"He..." she started to say.

"You have training with this, he doesn't. Unless there is a walker or animal attacking you, this should never leave its sheath. Do you understand me?"

Riley nodded, pitifully. "I tried to tell him, Dad but he wouldn't stop asking."

"I don't care," he shook his head, once. "If he can't listen to you, then you come find me or his mom, and you let us tell him. You do not let him have this."

"But..."

"No buts, Riley Jean. You are older than he is. I need you to lead by example, you got that?"

Riley nodded once more. "I'm sorry, Dad. It won't happen again, I promise."

"I know it won't and I'll make sure you will be reminded of it, too." Shane looked at his daughter with both eyebrows raised. She knew what was to come. Not only did she disobeyed an order, Carl could have cut himself on that knife if he wasn't careful. Not to mention she was grabbing to get it back. She could have cut herself, as well.

* * *

Riley spent the rest of the day, held up in their tent. She stuck to laying on her side since she couldn't lay on her back. To her, the only thing worse than the sting she felt in her backside, was seeing the look of disappointment on her father's face. He trusted her with this responsibility. To her, it felt like she had let him down. In fact, the thought made the tears keep coming.

Eventually, Shane returned, sticking his head inside the tent. "Food's ready, Sweetpea. Why don't you come and eat?" he said.

Without looking back, she replied, "I'm not hungry."

"Come on now, Sweetpea. You can't just not eat, especially when food is getting scarce. You gotta keep your strength up."

Riley squeezed Yoshi to her, tighter.

Taking a deep breath, Shane let it out before crawling over to where she was laying on top of her sleeping bag with her back to him. "I don't like having to do that, you know that. But I need you to know how serious things are right now, Sweetpea. You can't slip up like that."

Riley rubbed her eye on Yoshi's head, drying away her tears. "I'm not upset about that," she admitted, sniffing in, afterwards.

"Then what it is?" he asked.

"I'm mad at myself."

"Yeah? And why's that?"

She hesitated.

"Hm?" When Riley still wouldn't talk, he threatened, "Don't me tickle it out of ya. Don't think I won't do it." There was still some hesitance, so Shane had no choice. "Alright then. Guess I have no choice." He then reached over and grabbed onto her, tickling all of her most tickish spots. Riley tried pleading for him to stop in between giggles. "Not until you give me a reason why you're mad at yourself. Come on."

"You...don't...p-play...fair...Dad..."

He laughed along with her. Finally, she gave in and told him she'd tell him if he stopped. So he did. By this point, Riley was able to sit, comfortabley, now that a few hours had passed, but she couldn't make eye contact.

Shane tilted his head, a little. "What's the matter, Sweetpea?"

She muttered it, at first.

He turned his head so one of his ears pointed towards her. "I can't hear ya."

"I..." taking a deep breath, herself, Riley forced the words out. "I let you down."

Looking away, he nodded, repeatedly, now understanding. "Listen, Sweetpea," he told her. "You didn't let me down."

Riley finally lifted her head to look up at him. "Yes, I did. I disobeyed an order. You said not to take the knife out unless I was being attacked. I wasn't."

"I won't lie to you. I'm very disappointed in you, yes, and you should've come to one of us. But you also can't dwell on it. Learn from this and move on. Instead of moping around about thinking you let me down, show me you're willing to not let it happen again. Prove that to me, alright?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir."

"It's not that I don't love you any less, Sweetpea. I still love you with my whole heart, I promise," he continued. "Nothing you do can make me feel otherwise, understand?"

Again, she nodded.

"So, are we good now?" he asked.

This time, Riley gave a slight shrug.

"That's not the answer I was looking for. Do I need to tickle you again?"

She couldn't help smile at that. "Do I get knife back?"

"Are you gonna keep it where it belongs until you need it?"

"I promise, Dad," Riley nodded.

Reaching over to his bag, Shane pulled the knife in its sheath out. He turned back to her, taking it out of her reach when Riley tried to take it. "I mean it. No matter how many times Carl or the other kids ask, you cannot take this out and they cannot touch this. Got it?"

She nodded one last time. "Yes, sir."

Shane let her take it, back. "If I do see this out, I better also see a walker around."

"I promise, Dad." She smiled up at him. It was amazing how much the kid looked like him. And looked up to him, too. Though he was disappointed upon finding out he was having a girl instead of a boy, at first. The kid quickly grew on him, the moment she was placed in his arms, the day she was born and from then on. No matter what, Shane would make sure nothing happened to his little girl. That was a promise.


	3. Chapter 3

Shane's Kid

Chapter 3

Since the incident that led to her knife being briefly taken away, Riley tried her best to only take it out when she needed to. There hadn't been a need for it so usually it just remained at her waist. Thankfully, Carl never asked again, anyway which surprised Riley, but was glad.

Two more men ended up joining their group, though Shane wasn't too sure about letting them join, especially when the taller, bald one never could keep his mouth shut. His name was Merle while his brother, Daryl, didn't say much. The brothers kept to themselves anyway and hardly mingled with the rest of the group.

Though Riley was scared of Merle, Shane couldn't help notice she took to Daryl, real fast. A few times, he found the two together with Daryl showing her how to make traps, something Riley seemed to take an interest in. When she was younger, Riley loved when her and her dad would sometimes catch frogs if there were any around.

Shane had asked the kids if they had seen Riley, along with some of the other adults. It wasn't long before he figured out where she was and headed in the direction of the Dixons' tent since Merle had gone with Glenn and some of the others on a supply. Sure enough, as he was walking up, there she was.

"Riley Jean, what have I said about letting me know where you are?" he reminded her.

"I didn't leave camp," she pointed out. "And Dale could see me," Riley pointed over where the old man was standing lookout on top of the RV.

"Doesn't matter. I told you several times already I don't like you being over here by yourself."

"But I'm with Daryl," she continued.

"That don't make me feel any better." Shane glanced over at Daryl, who was quietly preparing to leave on his hunt. He looked back to his daughter, his hands on his sides. "Are your chores done?"

Riley nodded, "Yes, sir." Stealing a look with Daryl, she said, "um, Dad."

"What, sweetpea?"

"Daryl's going on his hunt and I was wondering if I, um...he said he'd teach me how to trap squirrels. Can I go?"

"Riley, what did I just say just now?"

"Um…" she stared at the dirt, stealing a glance now and then up at him. "If my chores were done?"

Shane shook his head. "Not that. I mean about not liking you over here alone and with him," he motioned his head over at Daryl, who scoffed. "Do you really think I'm gonna say yes to you going off with him, by yourself?"

"But, Dad," Riley whined, disappointed. "I want to learn how to trap small animals since our food supply's getting low."

"I don't care. You're not going and that's final. If you're finished with your chores, why don't you go help the other kids finish theirs, that way you all can play sooner." Riley groaned which Shane told her, "Go on."

Riley stood to her feet, off the log she had been sitting on, next to Daryl. Very slowly, taking her time, she headed off to find the other kids, walking passed her dad. Shane reached out and grabbed the top of her head over his hat she was wearing.

When she was out of earshot, Shane turned to Daryl. "Stay away from my kid, you hear me?"

Daryl barely glanced up at him like he was a waste of time, not at all intimidated. "She comes up to me." That said, Daryl stood to his own feet, swinging his crossbow across his back before taking off on his hunt. With the hunter gone, Shane turned away, heading over to catch up with his kid.

Catching up to her, Shane wrapped his arm around her head, kissing the top of it. "You know I'm just looking out for you," he reminded her. "Okay?" He felt her head nod in his arm.

"I know," she replied and looked up at him.

"You gotta stop being so trusting, sweetpea."

"But Daryl's nice. It's his brother that's mean, and don't trust."

"That's the thing, sweetpea. They're brothers. If one shouldn't be trusted, then both shouldn't be."

Riley glared up at her dad. "G-G says you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Just cause his brother's a certain way, don't mean he's like that, too." G-G was what Riley called her great-grandmother, whom she was given her middle name from.

Shane tilted his head back. Looking at her again, he told her, "Rye, you just gotta trust me on this. Okay?"

"I do trust you, Dad. But I think I trust Daryl, too. He's a cool guy, honest. Nothing like his brother at all."

He let out a sigh, trying not to get frustrated with her. Suddenly, Amy talking loudly on the CB got his attention. Hurrying over, Shane took the radio and tried to communicate with whoever was on the other end. Unfortunately, they lost him, and it sounded like he was headed into the city.

Lori brought up at that point, reminding them how they should be putting up signs to warn people not to go into the city. Shane stood his ground, reminding her they haven't had the time and declined her going to do it alone, since nobody was supposed to go anywhere alone. Lori didn't like it and stormed off.

Carl tried to go after his mom but Shane stopped him and went after her instead. With Amy and Dale walking away to go do their own things, the kids were alone. Carl was looking towards the direction his mom had went.

Riley did too, glancing over at the boy. "My dad is right. She shouldn't go out there by herself. Even one other person is better than being alone."

He agreed, nodding his head. "I wouldn't want to lose my mom, too." Things grew silent between the kids when Riley dropped her gaze at the dirt. Even though her mom did tend to go overboard with the teasing, she had thought her mom still cared for her and was still dealing with the loss just like Carl was with the loss of his dad. "Hey, um…" he broke the silence. "I never said I was sorry about getting you into trouble with your dad. I didn't mean to. It's just...I wish I could have a weapon so I could help protect everyone."

Riley shrugged. "Maybe my dad can finally convince your mom to let you. You just have to remember it's not fun and games. It's serious business. It's not like when Mario falls off a ledge or gets hit with a fireball by Bowser. If you die, you don't have infinite lives, and you can't start over." Video games was one of the things that Riley excelled at, so she sometimes would use them to help explain things she didn't know how else to explain.

"Yeah, I know." Afterwards, Carl wanted to go check on his mom and make sure she was okay, telling Riley, he'd see her later.

There were two other girls besides Riley in the camp, around her age. Sophia was one of them, and another girl who was the daughter of Morales, another of the ones who went with Glenn on the supply run. Riley was never up for playing games like House, but Hide and Seek didn't seem so bad, and it was nice having other friends besides Carl, though he still joined in, too. When he finished his chores, he joined the girls along with Morales' son who was about his age, in a game until Sophia and the sibling pair were called by their mothers for lunch. Riley and Carl went in search for their mom and dad, who still weren't back yet from when they each had left.

Amy had noticed the kids standing there. "Riley, come here or a sec," the young woman called her over. Riley wandered over. "Your dad ever teach you about telling the difference between poisonous and nonpoisonous mushrooms?" Amy showed her the bucket of mushrooms she was holding.

Kneeling in the dirt, Riley took the bucket, putting her face in the opening. "If they had white gills, a skirt, or a ring on the stem, then they are poisonous," she explained what her dad had taught her on their camping trips. "And don't eat the ones that have a volva, either."

"So, mushrooms drive cars, now?" she asked.

Riley lifted her head. "It's the base of the mushroom that looks like a sack."

"I was making a joke," Amy assured her. When Riley responded with an oh, turning red in the face, she tried to make the kid feel better.

Shane and Lori returned a bit later.

Riley dashed over once she saw her dad coming over, wrapping her arms around his waist, moving to the side as they continued walking.

"You behave yourself?" he asked her with a smirk, holding an arm around her head.

"Duh," she cocked a grin.

Shane lifted her up at that smartass response and tossed Riley over his shoulder, holding her like that.

"Dad! Put me down!"

"Nope," he told her, back over his shoulder. "You earned this for being a smartass."

Riley squirmed on his shoulder, trying to push herself up by holding onto the back of his shirt. Her dad just held a strong grip on her, making it difficult to move. He let her dangle for a good minute before finally setting her, back on her feet.

After lunch, Shane showed both Carl and Riley how to tie a really strong knot. The sun had disappeared behind a layer of dark clouds as thunder boomed overhead. Glenn and the others still hadn't returned yet, though they should have been. Amy was starting to pace, worried about her older sister, Andrea while Dale and Jim worked on Dale's RV.

With the camp, somewhat quiet at the moment, Riley was able to focus for the most part as both kids sat on either side of her dad, trying to do exactly how he showed them. Shane switched between them, instructing them as they attempted the knot. They were interrupted though when T-Dog, one of the ones who went on the supply run, came over the CB.

Shane stood up, placing both of his hands on the kids' heads, playfully and headed over to the RV as Dale hurried up to the roof to respond. Carl and Riley followed after as the adults hurried over. T-Dog was breaking up, but it sounded like he said they were trapped in a department store surrounded by walkers. Lori and Amy wanted to do something, but Shane reminded them they couldn't go after them and risk the rest of the group. Amy wasn't fond of hearing that, not wanting to leave her sister, trapped, to die, and stormed off. Lori went after her, to console her.

"So, they're gone?" Riley asked. Most of the group who had gone on the supply run, she had really come to like, as well.

"Yeah, Sweetpea. I'm sorry." He placed a hand on her head. She was still wearing his hat. Usually, unless he was working on the chores and needed protection from the blazing sun, Shane let her wear it since she liked wearing his hat. Besides, he had told her, she could pull it off better than he did, anyway.

"But…"

"Like I told Amy, Sweetpea. It was a risk to go. There's nothing we can do, okay?"

Riley nodded in acceptance, though she didn't have to like it. She didn't like how people had to die in this new world. Riley never liked people died every day in the old world, either, but the chances of it happening to those around her, were pretty low to her, at the time. Now, the risk was even greater and the kid didn't want to lose anyone else. _Please be okay, you guys!_ She hoped.


End file.
